Fruit and vegetable sorting machine



Feb. 27, 1945. E. RSANDMEYER 2,370,

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SQRTING MACHINE Filed July 23, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 1I -LE-l S LL SIZE IN VEN TOR.

Feb. 27, 1945. r R SANDMEYER 2,370,262

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SORTING MACHINE Filed July 23, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 24 4/ 2%.. E 4

if IRE-.5

INV EN TOR.

Feb. 27; 1945.

E. R. SANDMEYER FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SOETING MACHINE Filed July 23, 19435 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 27, 1945 FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SOBTINGMACHINE Ernest Raphael Sandmeyer, Yakima, Waslt, as= signor to FruitPackers Supply 8: Equipment Company, Yakima, Waslt, a corporation ofWashington Application July 23, 1943, Serial No. 495,883

9 Claims. (Cl. 209-97) This invention relates to a fruit and vegetablesorter.

An object of the invention is the provision of a device for sortingfruits or vegetables in such a manner that the same will be handledgently and thus eliminate bruises.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a machine forsorting fruits and vegetables in accordance with the sizes, in which theunassorted fruits and vegetables which remain on a grid are picked upgently and carried to a second sorting device for further separation ,ofthe remaining fruits or vegetables according to predetermined sizes.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a machine foraccurately sorting fruits or vegetables according to the size, whetherthe materials sorted are substantially round in shape or have variationsin the shape, the separation into various sizes being accomplished eventhough the fruits or vegetables are provided with stems. I

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a machinehaving a grid upon which fruits or vegetables are fed with a. rotarymember having movable fingers that will pick up those fruits andvegetables that remain on the grid and carry them to a second grid forfurther separation into sizes, said fingers being automatically movedout of the way of the periphery vof the rotable member when the fruitsor vegeing a part of the specification, nevertheless, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not confined to the disclosure, beingsusceptible of such changes and modifications as define no materialdeparture from the salient features of the invention as expressed in theappended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view in elevation of a machine constructed according tothe principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken along the line 2-2 ofFig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken along the line H of Fig.3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section similar to that shownln Fig. 2of one separator in position, showing the lifting fingers about to beelevated through a stationary grid.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view partly in section of Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings ||l designates a base memberfrom which rise a plurality of spaced pairs of standards or posts Theseposts are secured to the base-member in any approved manner. The upperends of the posts are connected together by means of rods or bars l2 forthe purpose of stability.

An angle iron I3 is bolted to each of the upper ends of each series ofposts at one side of the base member In and each angle iron has a flangell in a vertical position for engaging the outer faces of the postswhile the other flange it rests upon the tops of the posts as shown morepar- ,ticularly in Figs. 2 and 4. These angle irons run in parallelrelation and extend longitudinally of the machine and rovide the mainsupport for the various elements.

A feeding chute I6 is located at the front end of the machine and isinclined downwardly and supported by posts l1 and a plate I8. The postsand the plate are mounted in any approved manner on the angle irons |3.

' Extending forwardly of the inner end of the chute I8 is a gridgenerally designated by the numeral 20. This grid is composed of aplurality of forwardly estending bars 2| which are spaced apredetermined distance apart and which have one end secured to the platel8 adjacent the inner-end of the chute IS. The bars 2| are 10- cated inparallel relation and in a horizontal plane, and spaced a distance apartwhich will permit the smallest size of the fruits or vegetables to passthere between and drop into a container 22, supported by the base memberl0, and extending transversely of the machine. In other words, thecontainer 22 is of sufllcient length that it will be disposed beneathall of the parallel bars 2| which form the grid 20, so that the fruitsor vegetables will be directed into said container.

A cylinder generally designated by the numeral 25 is supported by aseries of rollers 26 and 21. The rollers 26 are mounted on stub shafts2!, while rollers 21 are secured to a shaft 29. The shafts 28 aremounted in bearings 30. carried by the upper ends of brackets 3|, whichare secured tothe flanges l4 and I! of the angle irons I3. Thelaagackets are secured by means of bolts or rivets The shaft 29 islikewise carried by bearings at the upper ends of brackets 28 which arebolted at 34 to the depending flanges I4 of the angle irons 6-3. Therollers 21 not only cooperate with the rollers 26 for supporting thecylinder 25, but since the shaft 29 is driven to which the rollers 21are attached said rollers will likewise be driven for revolving thecylinder 25 in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 5.

It will be noted from Figs. 2, -3 and 4', that the cylinder is providedwith a plurality. of diametrically disposed openings 35 and 36, and eachpair of diametrically disposed openings receives a slidably mountedfinger 3.1. When the cylinder is revolved these fingers will be revolvedsimultaneously and will be moved upwardly between the bars 2| of thegrid20 for raising fruits or vegetables which have failed to pass throughthe spaces between the said bars.

A-sleeve 381:; located withintlie cylinder 25 and has a centrallydisposed shaft 39 which passes through openings in each of the fingers31 at approximate central points of the fingers. The fingers are alsoinserted through diametrically disposed passages 40 in the sleeve 38."

It is to be noted that the sleeve 38 will contact the inner surface ofthe cylinder 25 for a portion of the length-of said surface, and it willbe guided in its movements by cams 4|. These cams, as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 4, are located exteriorly of the cylinder 25 andare bolted or secured in any approved manner to walls 45 and 46, locatedat each side of the machine and extending the full length thereof, asshown in Fig.

3. Each cam has a curved surface '41 which is substantially concentric.with respect to the inner curved surface of thecylinder 25. Opposed tothe curved surface is another curved surface 48 which is drawn along agreater radius than the curved surface 41 of the cam, so that it issubstantially flat. l

A ring 50 isloosely mounted on each outer end of the sleeve 38 and isheld in place by a pair of collars 5| and 52, which are pinned to thesleeve with the ring 50 being located between the pair.

of the sleeve, tending to pull the sleeve down- I wardly toward thebottom of the cylinder.

The outer ends of the sleeve 38 are reduced as shown at 55, and a roller56 is mounted on each reduced end. The collar. 51 pinned at 58 to thereduced end 55 maintains each roller in position. The rollers 56 willride upon the curved surface 41 and 48 of the cams 4|.

The rollers 21 are driven by the shaft 29 which in turn is driven by asprocket 60 secured to the said shaft. This sprocket is driven by achain 6 I, which in turn is drivenby a sprocket 62 secured to a shaft63. A chain 64 drives a sprocket 65, likewise secured to the shaft 63,and the last-mentioned chain is driven by a motor which may be'supported by the frame or may be sup.- ported independently of theframe. An idling sprocket 66 is adjustably mounted on a stub shaft 61and engages the chain 6| for maintaining the chain taut. The sprocket 66is adjustable vertically on the wall 45.

The walls 45 and 46 are provided with wear plates 10 which are engagedby the ends of the sleeve or hollow rod 38 for maintaining the sleeve insuch position that the opposite ends of the fingers 31 will always movemidway between the spaced bars 2| of the grid 20. These walls aresupported by brackets 1| which are bolted at 12 to the posts I. Thebrackets, as shown in Fig. 4, are vertical where they are connected tothe walls 45 and 46, but they extend inwardly and then downwardly asshown at 12 where they are conne'cted to the posts.

While the chains and sprockets are shown at one side of the wall 45,nevertheless, similar chains and sprockets may be located on the outsideof the'wall 46 in similar position to the chains and sprockets adjacentthe wall 45.

A second stationary grid 1.5 is composed of bars 16 located in ahorizontal plane and spaced a distance apart, which is greater than thedistance of the spacing of the bars 2| of the grid 20. These bars willpermit those articles of a certain size which have been removed from thegrid 20 to pass between the bars and drop into a transversely disposedcontainer 11, which is located directly below the grid 15. All of thearticles which do not pass between the bars 16 will be picked up andcarried over a second cylinder 18 in a manner which will be presentlyexplained.

A plate is secured transversely of the frame, and is secured in anyapproved manner to the angle irons I3, supported upon the tops ,of theposts I I. The upper edge of this plate is bevelled as shown at 8| witha reduced edge 82 located close to the outer periphery of the cylinder25 so'that when the articles indicated by the numeral 83 are carriedover the dead center of the cylinder 25 by the fingers 31 said articleswill be directed to the grid 15. This grid disposes of the articles ofan intermediate size while retaining the largest size thereon.

The cylinder 18is similar in all respects to the cylinder 25 and-isprovided with diametrically disposed pairs of openings 85 and 86,through which pairs of fingers 84 are adapted to be moved.

Thefingers 84 are attached to a hollow rod or sleeve 81 by means of apin or rod 88, extending entirely through the sleeve with the fingersbeing received by diametrically disposed passages 89. It will be notedthat the pin 80, as does the pin or rod 39, passes through the centersof the respective fingers 84.

A spring at each side of the frame is connected to an eye 9|, carried bythe angle irons I3. This spring is also attached to an eye 82, dependingfrom a ring 93 mounted on each outer end of the sleeve 81. Collars 94maintain the ring in position. The outer reduced ends of the sleeve 81are in engagement with the wear plates 10 of walls 45 and 46. A roller95 is mounted on each reduced end 96 of the sleeve 81 and these rollersare adapted to ride over the two opposite 1 surfaces 99 and I00 of thecams IOI The surface 99 of the cams will maintain the sleeve 81 incontact with an inner surface I02 of the cylinder 18 when the oppositeends of the fingers 84 alternately are moved through the bars 16 of thestationary grid 15.

The cylinder 18 is revolved by rollers I03 secured to the shaft 63 andthis shaft in turn is carried by bearings at the upper ends of bracketsI04. The second pair of rollers I05 are secured to stub shafts I06 whichare supported by bearings mounted on the upper ends of brackets I01.Brackets I04 and I01 are secured to the angle irons I3.

A vertically disposed plate III! is fixed to the angle irons I 3adjacent the cylinder 18. An inclined plate Ill is secured to the upperbevelled end of the plate I Ill and one edge I I2 of this plate islikewise bevelled and disposed adjacent the outer surface of thecylinder 18. The other edge 3 of the plate Ill extends along the top ofan open ended container H4 which is adapted to receive articles of thelarger size which have'been removed from the stationary grid 15 by themoving fingers 83. The container H4 is supported by a. bar 11 5 which issecured to and extends over the horizontal fingers of the angle ironsI3.

The operation of my device is as follows:

The device described herein is for the purpose of sorting fruits orvegetables according to size. It is to be borne in mind that whereverthe word article is employed in the specification and claims that it isintended to mean a fruit or a vegetable.

The articles are poured on to the chute i6 whence they will fall uponthegrid 20. All articles of a minimum size will pass between the bars 2|and drop into the container 22.

With the machine operating the projecting ends of the fingers 31 will bemoved toward the grid 20 as shown in Fig. 5, with the opposite ends ofthe fingers being disposed within the openings 36 in the cylinder 25. Atthis time the cylinder is being revolved by the-driven rollers 21 andsupported not only by these rollers but by the rollers 23. It will benoted at this time that the sleeve or hollow rod 38 is in engagementwith the curved surface 21 of the cams 4|, whereby the sleeve will bemaintained in contact with the inner wall of the cylinder while theprojecting ends of the fingers are moved towards the grid 20 while saidends are moved through the grid and while the projecting ends of thefingers 31 are carrying the articles upwardly and over the cylinder 25.

The spacing of the fingers 31 is substantially the same as the bars 21,so that they will raise all articles which have failed to pass betweenthe bars 21. When the sleeve 38 and the projecting ends of the fingersreach the position shown in Fig. 2 said sleeve is ready to pass over theupper ends of the cams ti, and the fingers are moved approximately deadcenter of the revolving cylinder 25. At this point, however, thearticles as shown are rolling down the curved outer surface of thecylinder '25 toward the grid 15.

As the sleeve 33 passes beyond the dead center it will slip off theupper. ends of the cams and due to the action of the springs 54 thesleeve will be pulled down rapidly with the rollers 56 riding on theslightly curved surface 18 of the cams. When this happens the oppositeends of the fingers are rapidly projected beyond the cylinder 25 and theends of the fingers which have just passed through the grid 20 are movedwithin the opening 35. The sliding movement of the fingers 31 permitsthe opposite ends of said fingers alternately to pass through'the grid20 and thus increase the capacity of the machine. In other words, thearticles are lifted when diametrically opposite points of the cylinder'25 are alined with the horizontal position of the staof the cams 4| theprojecting ends of the fingers will have a retrograde movement and thefree ends of the said fingers will be entirely received within thecylinder whereby said ends will clear the member 8|. Furthermore, theinner position of the projecting ends of the fingers, after they passthe upper dead center of the-movin8 cylinder, will prevent fruits orvegetables which have been deposited upon the stationary grid ID frombeing crushed if the-fingers were extended during the complete rotationof the cylinder.

All fruits and vegetables which have been discharged upon the stationarygrid are graded because the'medium size articles will pass be a tweenthe bars 16 of the grid 15 while the largest sizes of the articles willbe retained thereon.

The rotating cylinder 18 is substantially identical in construction withthe cylinder and its connected" elements are also substantially iden-'and raise them over the top of the cylinder 18.

When the fingers 84 reach substantially the 7 vertical position thearticles will roll off the curved surface of the cylinder 18 and bedischarged upon the inclined plate I ll whence they will be deposited inthe container H4.

The sleeve 81 will be maintained in contact with the inner wall of thecylinder 18 while the projecting ends of the fingers are moving upwardlytowards the grid 15, thence through said grid until they reach thevertical position shown in Fig. 2. When the sleeve 81 slips beyond theupper edges of the cams III! the springs 90, which are under tension andwhich are pulling on the sleeve 81, will cause said sleeve to descendover the curved surfaces 100 of the cams l0! until the sleeve reachesthe bottom of the cylinder 18. At this time, the formerly projectingends of the fingers 88 will be neatly housed within the openings 85 inthe cylinder 18, while the opposite ends of the fingers will beprojected and are beginning their upper ascent toward the grid 15 forcarrying away further articles which have been deposited upon said gridby the fingers 31 of the cylinder 25. V

The wear plates 10 maintain the sleeve 38 and the fingers 31 always inthe proper position. The grooves I2 3 in the ends of the cylinder 25 andthe grooves |2l in the ends of the cylinder 18 receive the.respectivepairs of rollers 26-21 and Hl5-|D3 for maintaining said cylinder inproper position at all times, so that when the fingers are moved throughtheir respective grids they will always pass-through the centralportions of-the spaces between the bars of the grids.

The shafts 29 and 63 extend transversely of the machine while the shafts28 and I06 are stub shafts supported by the various brackets.

These stub shafts permit a free space between the respective idlingrollers 26 and I05 for the upward movement of the fingers 31. However,since-the projected ends of the fingers 31 and 8d are always withdrawnwithin the cylinders 25 and 18, respectively, after said fingers passthe upper dead center, said fingers will be out of the way.

of the transverse shafts 29 and 63.

It will be appreciated that while I have shown two cylinders 25 and 18,any number of the cylinders may. be employed for increasing' the gradingof the articles. On the other hand, the selected grading may be limitedto two sizes so that it will only be necessary to employ. one

cylinder.

The machine will continuously grade the fruits and vegetables whilegently handling the materials to be grated, thereby eliminating injuryor bruising of the fruits or vegetables because the articles are alwayslifted gently from the grading grids and are then allowed to rollnormally from the cylinders on to a succeeding grid or into der may bein the form of a screen so that liquids will pass through the,cylindertransverselythereof while the projected moving fingers will lift thematerials to be separated from the flowing substance until they reachthe highest point in the travel of the cylinder and where the fingers 31are shown in a vertical position. Whenthe sleeve is passes-beyond thecam member 4| the projected ends of the fingers will be retracted andthus release the materials to the surface of the cylinder whence theyareremoved by the member When the machine is used in connection withliquids it may be employed for removing trash from the. waters ofirrigation canals, and as a screen to prevent game fish from enteringsaid canals, at the same time removing trash which flows against such ascreen.

The machine may also be employed for re- I moving detritus from flowingwater.,

On the other hand, the device may also'be used in removing undesirablematter in a sand washing flume, or for removing sticks or largerparticles from sawdust at sawmills.

While the fingers 31 and 81 are shown square ,in cross section it willbe appreciated that these fingers may be round or have any othercrosssectional area.

I claim:

1. A sorting machine comprising a stationary grid, means feedingarticles of various sizes to the grid which will release articles ofminimum size, a cylinder having diametrically disposed openingsin thewalls thereof, a finger slidably mounted in each pair of diametricallydisposed openings, a sleeve freely movable in the cylinder,

, means connecting anintermediate portion of each to the sleeve so thatthe fingers will move simultaneously, means connected with the sleevefor compelling said sleeve and fingers to be moved in one direction forprojecting alternately the opposite ends of the fingers from thecylinder, means rotating the cylinder so that the projecting ends of thefingers will pass through the grid and lift the unreleased articles overthe cylinder to a discharge point, and means retaining the projectedends of the fingers extendedwhen said fingers are passing through thegrid and carrying the articles over the cylinder to approximately thedischarge point.

3. A sorting machine comprising astationary grid, means feeding articlesof various sizes to the grid which will release articles of minimumsize, a cylinder having diametrically disposed openings in the wallsthereof, a finger slidably mounted in each pair of diametricallydisposed openings, a sleeve freely movable in the cylinder. meansconnecting an intermediate portion of each finger to the sleeve so thatthe fingers will move.

simultaneously, means connected with the sleeve for compelling saidsleeve and fingers to be moved in onedirection for projecting one end ofeach finger from the cylinder, means rotating the cylinder so that theprojecting ends of the fingers will pass through the grid and lift theunreleased articles over the cylinder to a discharge point, andstationary cams engageable with the ends of the sleeve and forcing saidsleeve to contact the inner wall of the cylinder for projecting theother end of each finger from said cylinder, the ends of said fingerswhen projected passing through the'grid and carrying the articles overthe cylinder to a point just past dead center.

4. A sorting machine comprising a stationary grid, means feedingarticles of various sires to the grid which will release articles ofminimum size, a cylinder having diametrically disposed openings in thewalls thereof, a finger slidably mounted in each pair of diametricallydisposed openings, a sleeve freely movable in the cylinder, meansconnecting an intermediate portion of each finger to the sleeve so thatthe fingers will move simultaneously, means connected with the sleevefor compelling said sleeve and fingers to be moved in one direction forprojecting one end of each finger from the cylinder, means rotating thecyl- 0 inder so that the projecting ends of the fingers finger to thesleeve so that the fingers will move for compelling said sleeve andfingers to be moved in one direction; for projecting alternately thesimultaneously, meansiconnectedwith the sleeve an opposite ends or thefingers from the cylinder,

means rotating the cylinder so that the projecting ends of the fingerswill pass through the gridv and lift the unreleased articles over thecylinder stationary in the ,walls thereof, a finger slidably mounted inI eachp'air of diametri bl disposed pening sleeve freely movable in thecylindeninieans conpectin: an intermediate portion of escnfinger willpass through the grid and lift the unreleased articles over the cylinderto a discharge point. and a stationary cam at each end of the cylinderand provided with a curved surface adapted to engage the adjacent end ofthe sleeve for causing said sleeve to contact the inner wall of saidcylinder andproject the other end of each finger from said cylinder whenpassing through the grid, said cam having a substantially fiat surfaceupon which the sleeve slides after leaving the curved surface under theinfluence of the compelling means so that the other ends of thefingerswill gets from said cylinder, means rotating the cylinder and likewisethe fingers, means guiding the sleeve so that the opposite ends of thefingers will be alternately projected from the cylinder and pass throughthe stationary grid and lift the un- M released articles over thecylinder to a discharge point.

6. A sorting machine comprising a stationary grid, means feedingarticles of various sizes to the grid which will release articles ofminimum size, a cylinder having diametrically disposed groups ofopenings in the walls thereof, a series of fingers slidably mounted ineach group of diametrically disposed openings, a sleeve freely movablein thecylinder, means connecting the fingers to the sleeve so that thefingers will move simultaneously with the sleeve, one series of fingersextending diametrically opposite to the other series, springs pullingdownwardly on the sleeve for forcing one series of the fingers from onegroup of the openings in the cylinder, stationary cams engaged by thesleeve for forcing the sleeve against the inner walls of the cylinderand the other series of the fingers through the other group of openingsin said cylinder so, that said fingers will pass through the grid, saidcams releasing the sleeve to the action ofthe springs when the lastmentioned series of said fingers have passed the upper dead center oftheir travel for projecting the first mentioned series from thecylinder, and

means revolving the cylinder.

'7. A sorting machine comprising a stationary grid, means feedingarticles of various. sizes to the grid which will release articles ofminimum size, a cylinder having diametrically disposed pairs of openingsin the walls thereof, a finger.

when the sleeve is being carried upwardly by the rotating cylinder, saidcam releasing the sleeve at approximately the upper dead center of rotation of the cylinder.

8. A sorting machine comprising a stationary grid, means feedingarticles of various sizes to the grid which will release articles ofminimum size, a cylinder having diametrically disposed openings, afinger slidably mounted in each pair of the diametrically disposedopenings, a sleeve freely movable in the cylinder, means connecting anintermediate portion of .each finger to the sleeve so that the fingerswill move simultaneously with the sleeve, a resilient means pullingdownwardly on the sleeve for forcing the opposite ends of the fingersfrom said cylinder, means rotating the cylinder and likewise thefingers, means guiding the sleeve so that the opposite ends of thefingers will be alternately projected from the cylinder and pass throughthe stationary grid and lift the unreleased articles over the cylinderto a discharge point, a second stationary grid located diametricallyopposite the first grid to receive articles discharged from the fingersand cylinder, and to release articles of an intermediate size, saidguiding means and resilient means causing the projected ends of thefingers to be drawn into th cylinder before the moving fingers approachthe second stationary grid and means for remov ing articles left on thesecond grid.

9. A machine for separating materials according to size, comprising acylinder toward which the materials are directed, a stationary gridwhich will release materials below a predetermined size, means feeding-the materials on to the grid, means causing rotation of thecylinder-,said cylinder having diametrically disposed openings, a fingerslidably mounted in each pair of the diametrically disposed openings andadapted to have its opposite ends projected alternately from thecylinder, means in the cylinder connecting all of the fingers forsimultaneous movement, stationary means acting on the last-mentionedmeans for forcing one group of the ends of the fingers from thecylinder, while the opposite ends are housed in the adjacent openings,'so that the projected ends of the fingers will be revolved upwardlythrough the materials remaining on the stationary grid and move thematerials, resilient means acting on the finger-connecting means forcausing said fingers to be moved downwardly through the cylinder forprojecting the housed ends of the fingers from said cylinder, when saidcylinder has rotated the projected ends of the fingers past the upperdead center, and means for removing the separated materials from thecylinder after the projected ends of the fingers have been retracted tohoused positions in the adjacent openings.

' E. R. SANDMEYER.

